If you’ve never tried a fresh cranberry vodka cocktail, here’s your chance! All you need is a bag of cranberries, a bottle of vodka, and a blender. For this recipe I’ve added homemade rosemary simple syrup to create a festive holiday cocktail!
Don’t hate me, but I wasn’t even going to share this vodka cranberry recipe with you.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and this year I’m not hosting (hallelujah!) so I’m working on putting together all of my dishes to bring to my sister’s place.
A festive cocktail is always in order, so I decided to create a riff of my favorite rain drop cocktail by working with fresh cranberries.
Once I did a little taste-testing (for quality control) this morning, I decided to snap a few pictures and get this up on the blog immediately so all my fellow last-minute-makers could have it ready by tomorrow.
Here’s what’s in the cranberry drink: fresh (homemade!) cranberry juice, freshly infused cranberry vodka, rosemary simple syrup, and a touch of sparkling water.
I just love this combination of tart cranberries and fragrant rosemary. It’s absolutely perfect for the holidays!
This works best if you plan ahead by starting this cranberry vodka recipe the night before.
You begin by tossing some fresh cranberries and water in a blender and pulverizing them.
I left this mixture in the fridge overnight for maximum infusion of the cranberry flavor into the water to create cranberry juice, but I bet you could get away with less time than that if you’re in an incredible rush.
Pour this mixture through a fine mesh strainer and collect the cranberry juice — you should have two cups.
Return all that pulpy goodness from the strainer to the blender and pour in a cup of vodka. Blend it again, then strain the vodka from the pulp for cranberry infused vodka (no need to wait this time – alcohol is an excellent flavor extractor!).
To make the rosemary simple syrup, just combine some sugar, water, and rosemary sprigs in a little pot and boil a minute or two until the sugar is dissolved.
Mix the cranberry juice, cranberry infused vodka, and rosemary syrup together, then divide it into ice-filled rocks glasses and top with sparkling water.
I decided to go with the “mix it all together” method because I’m bringing this over to my sister’s and don’t need to spend the whole day mixing drinks for family members.
If you’d rather keep the elements separate and prepare drinks one at a time, I’ve left notes in the recipe card with precise measurements.
This cranberry rosemary cocktail recipe fills three 8.5-ounce hermetic flasks, which are incidentally super gorgeous and fun to bring to a party:
Just bring along some sparkling water and pray the host has ice (<–or bring an ice bucket and a bag of ice).
This vodka cranberry cocktail would also make a lovely gift — just look how pretty the bottles are with some simple twine and a sprig of rosemary!
More Delicious Cocktails
- Cranberry Margarita
- Caramel Apple Martini
- Espresso Martini
- Caramel Apple Bourbon
- Sour Apple Martini
- Hot Toddy
- Caramel Apple Sangria
Fresh Cranberry Vodka Spritzers with Rosemary Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh cranberries - plus more for garnish
- 1 cup vodka
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 6 sprigs rosemary - plus more for garnish
- 8 ounce sparkling water
- 4 cups ice
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Place the cranberries in the pitcher of a blender along with two cups of water. Blend on high until completely pureed with no large chunks remaining. Refrigerate overnight to infuse the cranberry flavor into the water to make the cranberry juice.
- Strain the liquid from the cranberry mixture; you should collect two cups of cranberry juice.
- Meanwhile, place ½ cup sugar, ½ cup water, and 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil; boil until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off heat and allow to cool. Remove rosemary sprigs and discard.
- Return the pulp to the blender pitcher along with the cup of vodka. Blend well, and strain to get cranberry infused vodka.
- Mix the cranberry infused vodka with the cranberry juice to make three cups of liquid. Stir in the cooled rosemary syrup.
- Divide the ice into eight 8-ounce rocks glasses (½ cup each). Top each glass with just shy of a ¼ cup of the cranberry mix (3 and ¾ ounces).
- Top each glass with one ounce of sparkling water. Stir gently, garnish with fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs.
NOTES
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Enjoy Responsibly. This post and recipe are intended for those of legal drinking age.
I’m hoping you can help me, wanting to make this tomorrow. I’m confused on the straining part, when you say “Return the pulp to the blender pitcher along with the cup of vodka.” Is this the juice that was strained originally, or the pulp that was collected in the strainer? Because it then says, “Blend well, strain, and mix the vodka with the collected juice to make three cups of liquid.” It’s now talking about the collected juice. I’m assuming the pulp is a separate thing than the juice collected?
Hi Mikayla, thank you for the question. The answer to your question is that it is the pulp that was collected to mix in the blender with the vodka. I have added more details to the recipe instructions to clarify this. Basically, you blend the cranberries with water to create cranberry juice and set the juice aside. Then you re-blend the cranberry pulp with the vodka to make cranberry infused vodka. At this point, you can throw out the pulp and just mix in the cranberry juice with the infused vodka and the flavored simple syrup.
Save yourself time and buy unsweetened cranberry juice.
I made this yesterday as we decorated our tree. Absolutely delicious! And I am definitely inspired to make a large batch and give as gifts. So festive! Cheers!
Hi Nicole,
Yes! Happy Holidays!
– Linda
YUMMMM… love these variations using all the holiday flavors! Can’t wait to try this one!
Do you have to let the cranberry and water sit overnight or can u skip this step?
Hi, Shellye – this step allows the water to extract the cranberry flavors. I haven’t tried it without the overnight soak, but you might see if just 3 or 4 hours does the job.
I love this idea and am planning to make it for New Year’s Eve. Are the bottles you feature leak-proof? I was considering mailing some as gifts. Thank you!
Hi Luann,
The bottles are leak proof. For mailing them, I would wrap them good with bubble wrap, stand them up and put fragile on them and put an arrows around the box showing to keep the box upright and I think you will be good if they don’t get broken.
– Linda
These look fantastic! I was wondering if I could mix and store in cute bottles, or if I need to store it all separately? These would be great if I could make them a week or so ahead of time!
Hi, Coir – these should be good for a week in the fridge, but seeing as you’ll likely want to give the recipient some time to enjoy it, it would be better to wait to make it. The rosemary simple syrup and cranberry-infused vodka should last in the fridge for a good couple of months, but the cranberry ‘juice’ (fresh cranberries blended with water) may only last a week or so.
Hi,
If I want to make just the cranberry vodka for gifts, should it be kept refrigerated?
Hi, Deb! Once it’s all mixed together it should be good in the fridge for one week.
I am not a vodka lover but I gotta say that I would drink these without hesitation! 🙂 They look so pretty! And like you said they would make a great present! Love the bottles!
Hi.
i love this recipe but i can’t find fresh cranberries where i live. Just wondering if it can be made with frozen cranberries and would i need to adjust the amount of water?
Hi, Laure –
I haven’t tried working with frozen cranberries. Are they frozen whole berries, or are they cooked?
Cranberry and vodkas are dangerous, as I can throw down so many, so quickly and easily. Never ever would of thought of adding rosemary! Very intrigued by the idea of the rosemary syrup. Looking forward to trying it out!
Thanks for posting! Cheers!
Really good! I like the rosemary element. I made a batch to take to thanksgiving dinner at my mothers. I’m also bringing sparkling wine. Will try it with that instead of sparkling water for a big bang! Thanks for the recipe.